Internal-combustion engine driven compressor unit



p 1 1952 E. CARLSON- 2,610,785

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE DRIVEN COMPRESSOR UNIT Filed larch 22, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1

'l I 0 k0 RNVENTOR BY AM Sept. 16, 1952 CARLSON 2,610,785

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE DRIVEN COMPRESSOR UNIT Filed March 22, 1946 3 SheetsSheet 2 INVENTOR a ,4 ,M Y Hi: AiRNEY Sept. 16, 1952 E, CARLSON 2,610,785

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE DRIVEN COMPRESSOR- UNIT Filed March 22, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG- 3 IIIIIIIIII/II/I/III/IIIIIII/IIII, m

, INVENTOR} ERIC cARLsoN Patented Sept. 16, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE DRIVEN COMPRESSOR .Eric Carlson, Stockholm, Sweden, ,assignor to Ak-tiebolaget Atlas Diesel, Sickle, :near Stockholm, Sweden, a corporation of .Sweden Application March 22, 1946, Serial No. 655,377

In Sweden April 4,

This invention relates to compressor units comprising a reciprocating compressor driven "by a reciprocating internal combustion engine. "It has previously been common practice in the design of such compressor units to provide twointernal combustion cylinders and one compressor cylim der in the .same plane and to connect their pistons to a common crank pin. In many such units the internal combustion cylinders :have been disposed in .an upright 'V-zarrangement and the compressor cylinder horizontally. .Suc'h arrangement results "in a rather unfavourable balance of the pressure forces and, furthermore, is not so well adapted for portable :units.

In portable internal combustion engine driven compressors it has been common practice to combine an internal combustion engine with vertical cylinders arranged in line 'with a reciproeating compressor having the cylinders disposed in line or in V-arrangement. Both designs result in lengthy units and expensive crankshaft and 'bearing arrangements and other details.

One object of this invention is to produce a concentrated internal combustion engine driven compressor unit. A further object of the invention is to obtain a iavourable balance. A still further object is to obtain a unit which -has a simple and inexpensive crank mechanism.

For these and other purposes I provide in .a compressor unit comprisin a reciprocating compressor driven by :a reciprocating two stroke cycle internal combustion engine, a crank shaft, a crank on said crankshaft, :a group of cylinders comprising two substantially horizontal internal combustion cylinders and at least one upright compressor cylinder, pistons in said cylinders connected to said crank, :a communication between the compressor cylinder and the internal combustion cylinders or conducting scavenging .air :from the compressorcylinder to the internal combustion cylinders, valve means "in said communication, and a delivery passage from the compressor cylinder for conducting pressure now for use outside the compressor unit. Said pressure fluid may, of course, be compressed air .or any other pressure fluid. :Other objects and advantages of the invention'will he apparent from the :io'llowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a vertical cross section of a compressor :unit according to the invention 'in which the compressor portion of the unit is a single stage compressor. Fig. 2 is 'a vertical longitudinal section through the compressor portion of modification embodying 2 the invention op rating with two -stase compression. fig. .3 a sectional view of the line 3-3 of .Fig. 2, andFisA is-a vertical sectionalv-iew showmes further :.form of the invention inoorpomtmg two compressor cylinders.

compressor unit illustrated in Fig. 1 .consists of a crank case 1| of substantially square cross section having two horizontal internal combustion cylinders 2, 3 connected to the two side walls and a vertical compressor ylinder 4 to the suriaca Thus the internal .commxstion cylinders ,fom'n an angle of 1but theymnyalso be arranged with a smaller .angle between them. The internal combustion cylinders are two stroke cycle compression iigni tion diesel cylinders provided with means for solid fuel injection, but the internal combustion ylin rs may, of course, also :be designed as low pressure .diesel cylinders or as two stroke cycle internal combustion cylinders supplied with a :mixture of 'fuel and air and provided with ele c trio ignition orthe scavenging air conduits :5, .6 and exhaust gas conduits -'l, .8 are :frtted to the :upper sides of the horizontal internal combustion cylinders :2, 3. The scavenging :air conduits 25, n are divided at each internal {combustion cylinder in two branches which conduct the scavenging air to the inlet ports (disposed in the lower portion of the cylinders. The pistons operating in the intternal combustion cylinders are connected to a master rod Z121 :by :means of connecting rods 1| 0, said master :rod being journalled on a crank pin :of the crankshaft IE-ZQI'hemaster rod H is :con- (nected to a cross head J13 tmoveable in vertical guideways M and connected with :a double- .acting compressor piston 1'6 by means of .a piston rod [5. The compression chamber on the underside .of theipiston 1:6 is supplied with air through .a filter :l'?! and a chamber 18 viaautomatic inlet valves :25 and delivers scavenging :air to the conduits 5, 6 through automatic :delivery valves "25. The compression chamber on the upper side of :the piston 16 is also supplied with air through the filter i1 and the chamber 18, said :air being then admitted to the compression chamber via automatic valves 21. .iAfter compression therein the air is :delivered via automatic delivery valves 28 and a delivery conduit 18 to the compressed-airrconsumer. The compressor-unit illustrated fin Fig. lhas a crankshaft with a single crank 29 and :the pressures occurring on the .pistons of this unit are distributed very uniiorm-ly-over each revolutionso that comparatively small flywheels are :sufiicient ior obtaining a uniform and smooth operation. The compressor unit illustrated in Fig. 1 is provided with water cooling of the internal combustion cylinders as well as of the compressor cylinder. Two or more units of the type illustrated in Fig. 1 may be built together when large compressor units are desired and when two units are built together the cranks on the crankshaft may preferably be displaced 180'.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 the internal combustion engine is designed in exactly the same way as in the embodiment described hereinabove and as far as the details thereof are visible in Fig. 2 the same reference numerals have been used to indicate similar parts which are not described in detail. The compressor portion of the unit according to Fig. 2 is designed for two stage compression and for this purpose a compressor cylinder is provided and fitted with a differential piston 2|, 22. The underside of the large piston 2| which is connected with the piston rod l5 and arranged as the underside of the piston 6 in Fig. 1 serves to compress scavenging air for the internal combustion cylinders. The annular portion of the upper side of the piston 2| serves to compress air which is sucked in via inlet valves and then supplied to the compression chamber of the small piston 22 via valves 3|, an intermedi ate cooler 23 and valves 32. The piston 22 compresses the air to the end pressure and it is then discharged via valves 33 to a delivery conduit 34 leading to a place of consumption. The intermediate cooler 23 which is provided between the two compression stages is cooled by air delivered by a fan 24 which may be driven from the crankshaft l2.

The internal combustion engine driven compressors according to Figs. 1 and 2 are watercooled but they may also be designed for air cooling. Particularly advantageous is a design in which the internal combustion cylinders as well as the compressor cylinders are air cooled since in such a unit all water cooling is eliminated.

In the modification of the invention shown in Fig. 4, the internal combustion engine cylinders 2 and 3 are identical with those shown in Figs. 1 and 3, and the compressor cylinder 4 is also identical with that shown in Fig. 1, except that the same is mounted on the crankcase at an angle to the vertical. In this modification, a second compressor cylinder 35 is provided and is also mounted on the crankcase at an angle to the vertical whereby the cylinders 4 and 35 are disposed in a V-arrangement in the space between the upper sides of horizontal engine cylinders 2 and 3.

Disposed in the second compressor cylinder 35 is a piston 36 having a piston rod 31 connected to a cross head 38 slidably received in a guideway 39. Cross head 38 is reciprocated by a connecting rod 4|] which forms part of a master rod 4| rotatably mounted on the crank pin of the crank 29. Master rod 4| is secured to the connecting rods 9 and H) of the internal combustion engine and to connecting rod 42 which is pivotally secured to the cross head |3, which in turn drives the piston I6 through piston rod |5. In this modification the cylinder 35 forms the second stage of a two-stage compressor, the upper portion of cylinder 4 forming the first stage of this compressor.

The discharge from cylinder 4 through the conduit I9 is connected with valve chamber 43 4 at the upper end of cylinder 35 and inlet valve 44 controls the flow of fluid into the cylinder 35. A discharge valve 45 controls the outlet of compressed fiuid from cylinder 35 to a chamber 46, to which is connected a discharge conduit 41 leading to a storage tank or other point of use for the compressed fluid.

Obviously, if desired, the compressor cylinder 35 might be of the double acting variety, as cylinder 4, or might be of the two-stage variety as shown in Fig. 2. The particular type of cylinder and piston utilized is merely a matter of choice depending upon the output pressure and. volume requirements which must be met.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a motor compressor unit having a crankcase, a crankshaft, a crank on said crankshaft disposed in said crank case, a group of cylinders comprising two substantially horizontal two stroke cycle internal combustion cylinders and at least one compressor cylinder disposed in the upper angle between said combustion cylinders and containing at least two working compressor chambers, pistons in said combustion and compressor cylinders connected to said crank, manifold means connecting one of said working compressor chambers and the combustion cylinders for conducting scavenging air from said chamber to the combustion cylinders, valve means in said manifold means, and a delivery passage from the second of said working compressor chambers for conducting pressure fluid for use outside the compressor unit.

2. A compressor unit according to claim 1, in which the group of cylinders forms a third working compressor chamber having an intake connected with the discharge of said second chamber so that the pressure fluid for use outside the compressor unit is compressed in two compression stages.

3. In a motor compressor unit having a crank case, a crank shaft, a crank on said crankshaft disposed in said crank case, a group of cylinders comprising two substantially horizontal two stroke cycle internal combustion cylinders and at least one compressor cylinder disposed in the upper angle between said combustion cylinders, pistons in said internal combustion cylinders operating on said crank, a double acting compressor piston in said compressor cylinder operating on the same crank and dividing said compressor cylinder into a pair of working compressor chambers, manifold means connecting one of said chambers and the internal combustion cylinders for conducting scavenging air from said chamber to said cylinders, valve means in said manifold means, and a delivery passage from said other chamber for conducting pressure fluid for use outside the compressor unit.

4. In a motor compressor unit having a crank case, a crankshaft, a crank on said crankshaft disposed in said crank case, a group of cylinders comprising two substantially horizontal internal combustion cylinders and at least one two stage compressor cylinder disposed in the upper angle between said combustion cylinders, pistons in said internal combustion cylinders operating on said crank, a double-acting differential compress'or piston in said compressor cylinder operating on the same crank and forming one compressor chamber on one side and two further compressor chambers on the other side, manifold means connecting said first compressor chamber and the internal combustion cylinders for conducting scavenging air from said chamber to said cylinders, valve means in said manifold means, a communication between said further compressor chambers for conducting pressure fluid compressed in one of said chambers to the other for further compression to a higher pressure, and a delivery passage from said last mentioned compression chamber for conducting pressure fluid for use outside the compressor unit.

5. In a motor compressor unit having a crank case, a crankshaft, a crank on said crankshaft disposed in said crank case, a group of cylinders comprising two substantially horizontal two stroke cycle internal combustion cylinders and two compressor cylinders in V-arrangement in the upper angle between said internal combustion cylinders, pistons in said combustion and compressor cylinders connected to said crank, man- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 345,998 Smith July 20, 1886 1,042,975 Sailer Oct. 29, 1912 2,108,223 Young Feb. 15, 1938 2,394,904 Fowler Feb. 12, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 705,025 Germany Apr. 15, 1941 

